Review: Söthis - Trails of Blood

Söthis is a death metal unit from Oakland. The band released their debut EP “Trails of Blood” in 2016, but not satisfied with the production of it, they decided to remix and remaster and reissue the four track release back in September. The new version also comes with a new artwork.

The guitar work on “Trails of Blood” is very straight forward; it's just all about the riffs, and when the riffs are this good you might not even notice. The production is very clear while still remaining raw and unpolished, and even if the guitar sound is not as flesh ripping as it could certainly be, it's still very gory and similar to early Entombed. The drumming is also pretty basic and just focuses on getting your head banging. The bass is sweet and loud.

“Obliteration” is a great opener, filled with riffs that just scream of old school death metal. It has the best lyrics on the EP, which follows the same formula as the music. The longest piece on the EP, “Decrepit Ways” starts a bit slower, but it doesn’t take long for the band to fire on all cylinders. The best part of the song is the slow and almost groovy bridge with crushing riffs on top. “Worship Rot,” the shortest track is straight to the point. Although short, it has lots of jumps between parts and some nice drum fills, and influences of Gojira and Ulcerate can be noticed. Every single riff on “Lacerated” is a contender for best riff on the EP. The song constantly slows down and speeds up, focusing on dynamic the most.

“Trails of Blood” is a great introduction to the band, as “Obliteration” and “Lacerated” definitely show a lot of potential. Thhe only thing I can complain about this EP is that the total running time of just 11 minutes is way too short, but you can just listen to it again since it's almost impossible to get tired of these songs. If you're a big fan of old school death metal, well what are you waiting for?